Chinese foreign minister holds talks with Singaporean counterpart

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Vivian Balakrishnan, minister of foreign affairs for Singapore, in Beijing on Monday.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said as two forces working for stability, China and Singapore need to strengthen strategic coordination and communication in the turbulent world.

Noting that both China and Singapore have important domestic political agendas this year and are making steady progress toward their respective national development goals, Wang said the two sides have worked closely and learned from each other, providing significant impetus for the development of their modernization.

China is ready to strengthen synergy with Singapore in the development strategies, put into practice the all-round high-quality future-oriented partnership established by the leaders of the two countries, and make new contributions to regional peace, stability and development, Wang said.

The two sides should give full play to dialogue mechanisms at all levels and in all fields, make good use of their mutual visa exemption policy, and deepen the construction of a China-ASEAN community with a shared future, thereby pooling greater joint forces and injecting sustained impetus into regional integration and economic globalization, he said.

Balakrishnan said Singapore abides by the one-China policy and unequivocally opposes "Taiwan independence." The new Singaporean government is ready to use the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Singapore and China next year as an opportunity to prepare for high-level exchange and expand comprehensive cooperation.

He extended his congratulations on the success of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which brought new opportunities for the accelerated development of the Global South. He said Singapore firmly supports free trade and the expansion of two-way investment between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and stands ready to work with China to uphold the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core.

The two sides expressed their willingness to strengthen coordination and work together to push for positive outcomes from the upcoming leaders' meetings on East Asia cooperation.